Caitlyn Jenner went from the Olympics to reality television to politics?
That’s a strong possibility, according to the 1976 gold medal-winning decathlete, who told conservative talk radio host John Catsimatidis recently she’s looking into running for Senate.
“The political side of it has always been very intriguing to me,” Jenner said. “Over the next six months or so, I've got to find out where I can do a better job. Can I do a better job from the outside, kind of working the perimeter of the political side, being open to talk to anybody?
“Or are you better off from the inside? We are in the process of determining that. Yeah, but I would look for a senatorial run.”
Jenner, a lifelong Republican, did not offer any details regarding a possible timeline, but she could make a run for Democrat Dianne Feinstein’s seat, which will be up for grabs next year. Feinstein, 84, has not said whether she plans to run for re-election.
Jenner has become increasingly vocal about her political positions since coming out as transgender in 2015. She's openly embraced becoming a spokesperson for the transgender community, which has led her to challenge some of the Republican Party’s more socially conservative positions.
Last year, for example, Jenner came out against a controversial measure in North Carolina that would require transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificates.
“These anti-LGBT bills actually make us less safe, not more safe,” she wrote for People magazine in April 2016. “They open the door to abuse, aggressive and confrontational behaviour in bathrooms, and encourage strangers to demand that women and girls prove that they are actually female in order to use the restroom. No one wants that.”
The law was eventually repealed.
Jenner, however, still sees problems with the Republican Party, based on “perception”.
“In the United States, the perception of the Democrats is that they’re pro-equality, pro-LGBT and this and that.
“And the perception of the Republican Party is they're all about rich white guys trying to make money,” she told Catsimatidis.
Jenner added: “If you could do the socially aware stuff but be conservative economically, I mean, that's the way to go.”